Spice Girls dolls

The Spice Girls Dolls are celebrity dolls based on the popular girl-group the Spice Girls. They were released by Galoob Toys from 1997 to 1999.

In October 1997, it was announced that the Spice Girls were collaborating with Galoob Toys to create a range of Spice Girls dolls. The first dolls were originally due to be released in 1998, but as the profile of the band rose, the decision was taken to rush through production in time for the festive season.

The first set of dolls by Galoob were the "Girl Power" series released in December 1997, after more than two months of negotiations with the band and its management about the product. Due to the rushed production, there was a lack of supply of the dolls and only a fraction of the expected demand could be met, leading industry experts to fear there would be a "toy rage" phenomenon.

Subsequent doll series were released in 1998 and 1999.

The dolls became a huge hit during the Christmas seasons of 1997 and 1998, selling over eleven million. In 1997, the Spice Girls doll market hit $200 million and the success of the dolls earned toymaker Galoob $150 million in pretax cash. The dolls were the fifth best-selling toy– despite limited stock– in the UK for the 1997 Christmas season according to the British Association of Toy Retailers' annual Christmas best seller chart. In 1998, they were the second best-selling toy of 1998 in the United States according to toy trade publication Playthings' annual industry survey.

In total, eleven different sets of dolls were released. A "Sound Stage" playset was released and extra costumes, "Spiceworld Fashions" (two sets of four fashions), were later sold as "Spice It Up 2". The most sought-after line of all the dolls is the original "Girl Power" set. This features Geri Halliwell in her iconic Union Flag dress. Dolls featuring the girls with outfits from their music videos were planned, but never released.

When Geri Halliwell departed from the group in May 1998, Galoob continued the line with all five girls. It was a year after she left when Galoob finally released the sets of dolls that only had the four remaining girls. More than likely "On Tour," "Superstar Collection," "Concert Collection," and "Spice It Up! 1" were far enough into production that Galoob decided to release the Geri doll. Galoob was subsequently bought by Hasbro. Hasbro was going to continue the line into 2000, with the "Millennium Tour Collection" set for release in October. The Hasbro website had a page saying "coming soon," but Hasbro stopped the line when the future of the Spice Girls became uncertain.

...
Wikipedia